“If you could go back to any time in your life, where would you go?” This question came up after a few glasses of wine and lots of truth telling with two of my beautiful friends this past summer. They had packed their girls in the car and come out to see me and my daughters in our new home town.
To provide a little background, I’ve made some changes in the past 2 years. I held onto my daughters and left my husband, my job, my friends , and my family. This was not a rash decision, but one done with a mix of faith, surrender and preparation. I woke up one day and realized I was living in a fog. I had ignored the subtle and not-so-subtle knocks on my door for too long. When you do that, life or God or the Source, whatever you like to call it, will stop hinting around and give you a message you can’t ignore.
There are 4 ongoing and never-ending steps to this process RECOGNIZE – RELEASE – RECEIVE – REPEAT
Creative thinking and intelligence is often described as fluid thinking. When we are “in the zone” our thoughts flow like water. In the zone our thoughts move freely in any and every direction.
Contrast that with a visual for analytical thinking, which would be more rigid, precise and one directional. Point A to point B. Period.
It’s long been established that Yoga and other movement practices work to strengthen your body AND quiet your mind AND connect you to an energy deep within you. Many of us choose to practice only for the physical benefits, but when we miss the chance to connect the mind to the movement and our energy to the source we are missing an opportunity.
Research has shown that fluid movement patterns actually increase the creative thought process. With each step we take, there is a figure-8 motion of the pelvis. Picture your pelvis as a ring. That ring tilts, drops and rotates in a figure-8 as you walk.
Why not use the natural movement patterns of the body when we are taking the time to exercise? I am a big proponent of getting up and taking quick movement breaks to stimulate not only the body, but the mind and heart/energy too.
Fitness is fleeting. Trends come and go. Motivation waxes and wanes. Guilt and shame often dominate our body issues. Getting motivated to be fit is not the problem, it’s adrenaline driven. Actually doing it is f&$#ing hard. That’s the problem.
But why? Really, why don’t we just do what we know is good for us?
Many of us are suffering from what I like to call ‘fitness vision’. There is a cure people and it’s within your reach if you are ready for it.
When I think of fitness, I see images of beautiful tan people with bright white teeth and abs that you can actually see. It motivates me to think about going out for a run, but it’s not enough to make me actually do it. You see, that vision of fitness isn’t me. In the end, that vision of fitness makes me feel like that will never be me, so why bother. I’m not down on fitness, I actually own a ‘fitness’ company.
I prefer to think in terms of vitality rather than fitness. When I see through the lens of vitality the world comes into focus.
Vitality is lasting and more forgiving. Vitality is the power to live and grow.
Vitality is deep. Fitness is superficial.
As a rogue Physical Therapist, owner of Berkshire Fitness Company and total psycho-spiritual nerd, I will let you in on a little secret. If you struggle with sticking to an exercise routine (or any routine for that matter) and you want that to change, you have to be utterly and completely honest with yourself: you are making lame excuses. Yes, I said it. Stop making lame excuses.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. The people who come in to the studio all jazzed up talking about “finally getting fit”, don’t last. I can see it in their eyes, they have the ‘fitness vision’ and they won’t be back. When we bump into each other at the pub, they will sheepishly look away or talk very quickly about how busy life is and that they are dying to get back in. If they keep looking in the mirror with ‘fitness vision’, they won’t be back.
Seriously, who has time for that?
A few years ago, I was so far off track I didn’t even know where the track was. My story is not atypical. I’m a mom, I was married and I was working. When I look back, it’s clear that I had put myself on auto-pilot. At the time, nothing was clear and not much thought went into anything but getting the kids to school, figuring out who was doing pickup, attempting to not live in a cluttered mess and hopefully remembering to pay the bills on time.
A few days in a row of getting to the gym after conceding to buy the next size up in my jeans never stuck. There were too many other things to draw my attention away. Things like, The Real Housewives of any City or County, ‘deserving’ a glass of wine (or two) while making dinner and staying in bed until the last possible second before starting all over again.
My auto-pilot life had it’s rewards. I became an expert at staying comfortable. Just filling the days and nights up with things to avoid navigating the world without any thought or purpose was easy. To say that it wasn’t gratifying would imply that I was thinking on a level where that would have even occurred to me. I was not.
Fast forward a few years and I still get distracted, but it doesn’t throw me off my track. I know where my track is now.
Gone are the days of smoke filled boardrooms, bars and restaurants. Our lungs are eternally thankful.
Here are the days of work and play endlessly tied to the computer, tablet or phone screen. Our backs are hangry (pronounced hang-gree | a state of anger and irritability resulting from being hungry) and movement is the nutrition our bodies crave.
The human body did not evolve for the purpose of a sedentary lifestyle. We were made to move. The average american sits for 10 hours a day!! That’s way too much time slumped at our computers, desks, couches and cars. Living with such minimal full body movement is linked to 36 different chronic conditions. Serious issues like diabetes, obesity, neck and back pain, heart disease, depression and even cancer.
Let’s look at the science and evidence-based research that should be enough to intellectually lead us all to re-evaluate our habits and take action.
SITTING AND SERIOUS ILLNESS.
1 in 3 adults in the US do not engage in any physical activity in their free time. Lack of physical activity accounts for 22% of coronary heart disease, 22% of colon cancer, 18% of osteoporotic fractures, 12% of diabetes and hypertension, and 5% of breast cancer.-Science Daily
SITTING COST MONEY
At least 100 million Americans live with chronic pain, with the resulting treatments and productivity loss costing and estimated $635 billion.-Harvard
We fount that the annual cost of pain was greater than the annual costs in 2010 dollars of heart disease ($309 billion), cancer ($243 billion), and diabetes ($188 billion) and nearly 30 percent higher than the combined cost of cancer and diabetes. -National Institute of Health
SITTING STIFLES YOUR SUCCESS
In the US, 7.6 million people list back pain as their reason for filing disability claims.-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
It has been just over a month since I underwent fusion surgery on my back, and it is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years. Tiger Woods
Just five days later, he was found slumped over, dazed and confused in his Mercedes-Benz. His arrest for suspected DUI was, of course, front page news. It seems as though a collective sigh of relief was heard when the breathalyzer revealed 0.00 blood alcohol level.
The media, fans and non-fans alike have taken comfort in knowing he wasn’t drunk. Hey, it was just a bad reaction to a mix of prescription drugs. No big deal. Phew, I guess we don’t have anything to worry about.
Please read that again. It was just a mix of prescription drugs. Simply a bad reaction. He wasn’t drunk.
The purpose of this writing is not to point fingers at Tiger and certainly not to preach from a pulpit of ‘shame-on-you’. It’s quite the opposite. I have made my share of poor decisions in my 43 years and cast no judgement on Tiger.
The purpose of this is to point out the ridiculous notion in America today that prescription pain medication is nothing to worry about. Opioids are silent killers and they are prescribed on a whim every day, despite the growing body of scientific evidence refuting any benefit for chronic pain.
Scientific American Mind published a blazing article on the opiod epidemic in May:
The United States is in the grip of an unprecedented public health crisis – one in which well meaning doctors have played a part. Between 1999 and 2014 sales of prescription opioid drugs nearly quadrupled. In 2012 alone, physicians issued 259 million opioid prescriptions – enough to give a bottle of pills to every adult in the country. And in 2015 more than half of all overdose deaths in the U.S. involved opioids – either pain medications, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, or illicit substances, such as opium and heroin. To put that statistic in perspective, opioids claimed roughly as many lives that year as car crashes. Scientific American Mind May/June 2017
We must revisit how we care for people in pain. The excerpt above gives us a wealth of information to dissect.
Let’s begin with ‘well meaning doctors’. As a physical therapist, I have a host of long standing relationships, both personally and professionally with doctors. Doctors are people who have taken on the task of applying science and medicine to human beings. It is a huge undertaking and one that is best done over time. When I was a kid, we had a family doctor. He happened to be my best friend’s Dad, so I got to see him as the person that he was, as well as the doctor in the office. If you are over 40, you know what I mean by ‘family doctor’. It was a comforting thing to know that he or she knew you by name and not by number.
He and his partner’s name was on a sign outside of their modest office. There was no hospital or medical system logo in sight. Those days are gone. Independent family doctors are a thing of the past. In the last couple of decades, they have all been swallowed up by big health care systems. The independent doctor did not have the bargaining power necessary to negotiate with their customer anymore. Yes, I said customer, not patient on purpose.
American health care is a booming industry and has 3 major players:
The health care systems that run hospitals, clinics, labs and both primary care and specialty doctors offices
Pharmaceutical companies
Insurance companies (including private, Medicare and Medicaid)
Notice that the patient is not the customer and is certainly not a major player. Our doctors are still well meaning, but they don’t have time for us anymore. That may not be a popular thing to say, but we all know it’s true. They are too pressed for time and this is why. General practitioners are the first line of defense and then lowest earner on the physician totem pole. They get paid by the volume of patients they can see in a day. Specialists get paid by procedure, which is WAY more profitable.
Talking about money exchange and health care is a squeamish topic. It’s also long overdue. Health care costs have doubled every 8 years for the past four decades. There are more procedures and tests and specialists than ever before. At the risk of offending many people, I will tell you why that is. Procedures, tests and specialties are where the money is. Insurance happily covers them, because they get paid in percentages. The higher the cost of a procedure, the higher the percentage they get to keep. Insurance companies are not villainous, they are smart business. Hospital systems have no incentive to provide services at a reasonable cost, because their customer is happy to pay at premium and pass the burden onto their customer.
In our American health system, that customer is your employer who keeps getting hit with higher premiums on your health insurance. For most companies today, health benefits are the number two line item below staffing. They have to share that burden with you, the employee in order to stay in business. That is the reason for unchecked raises in your deductibles and contributions to HSA’s.
Politicians talk endlessly about health care reform, but never about the rising costs and what is driving them. It’s all a big mystery because very few people understand health care as the big business it has become. Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act and looming Trumpcare are all about insurance reform, not health care reform. As long as the insurance company, whether it’s a single payor system or not, is the customer, we will have no real reform.
Since the enactment of Obamacare, the Big Three Players in Healthcare have doubled and tripled their performance on the Dow. There is no incentive for them to change anything. The higher the cost of procedures, tests and prescriptions the better. Skeptical of this opinion? Consider this; as part of Obamacare, insurance companies are allowed to keep 15% of profit from large businesses and 20% from small businesses. The higher the cost of care, the hight the profit.
Since the money is routed through the insurance system
This is sad commentary on what we have come to expect from out health care system.
One in every two Americans has a Musculoskeletal Condition, simply put, that’s pain in the muscles, bones or joints. This is the leading cause of missed days from work and the giving up of activities that used to make us happy, but now seem to cause some of that pain.
I have some good news. Our work and the things we love to do don’t actually cause the pain. They often bring it to our attention, but they are not the culprit.
The cause of pain is often hidden in places we don’t think to look. Places that we forget about because of the demands of
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KMSPico
Other Activation Tools
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Varies
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Fast
Slower
Permanent Activation
Yes
Often No
Compatibility
High
Limited
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“Initially weary of the direct-pay model, BeFIT’s value is quickly apparent. Seen within a day, PT Nicole kept MY GOAL (knee injury/leg rehab) at the forefront and narrowed-in on a plan of action immediately. She tailored my program to my progress and I was back to my workouts in 15 days! Easily would have spent more $$ (co-pays alone) and time-off had I taken the traditional insurance-based route.”
“The work I’ve done with Robin has transformed how I feel about myself, and the positive attitude and energy at BeFIT are simply amazing! Keeping active over the age of 50 can be a challenge and Robin figures out just what i need to stay strong, fit, and pain-free, so that I can keep on doing the things I enjoy most and take on new challenges.”
In Studio Sessions with a Licensed Physical Therapist
Pain, Fitness & Performance coaching with a Licensed Physical Therapist.
Are you struggling with nagging pain, tired & achy muscles, or an injury?
Do you know that exercise is important, but have trouble getting motivated or sticking with it?
Are you an athlete anxious to get back in the game?
For over 25 years, we've helped thousands of people like you sift through complex situations. We analyze your dynamic situation to give you the insights, choices, and action steps you need to live life on your terms.
3D MAPS Certified - Movement Analysis Performance System
Robin's Bio
Robin Dufour empowers people of all ages to overcome their struggles with recurring pain, fitness, and injury.
She approaches each situation with enthusiasm, persistence, and a keen sense of humor, crafting individualized and science-based programs for each person or group of people.
Her goal is to help individuals, families, and teams become experts in their physical wellbeing so they can enjoy a healthy balance in occupation, life, and play.
She loves being able to laugh and celebrate with clients as they overcome difficult situations and move beyond old limitations.
Special Interests:
Robin is often sought out to assist with challenging pain issues when other treatments have been unsuccessful. She is particularly skilled with seemingly complicated cases of recurring pain, discomfort, and aversion to regular exercise. She also specializes in resolving the causes of workplace injury.
Her experience as a parent, business owner, practitioner, and enthusiastic student of life offers a refreshing alternative to traditional physical therapy and fitness.
Robin loves spending time with her two daughters, her partner Nicole, and a handful of long-time friends - whom she credits for fine-tuning her sense of humor and humility.
She'll never pass up a walk on the beach, a great book, or a nice glass of wine in her spare time.
Experience & Training:
Following graduation from the University of New England in 1995, Robin became a licensed Physical Therapist. She opted for a series of challenging jobs in physical rehabilitation with neurologic injury, pediatrics, geriatrics, and sports medicine. She credits this diversity in finding common threads and practical solutions for a broad range of clients.
In 2010, she earned the distinction of Fellow of Applied Functional Science with the prestigious Gray Institute. She went on to become a five-year member of the faculty - teaching movement and health practitioners from around the world.
Robin has a particular interest in Veteran and Family care. In 2018-2019 she was hired as a special consultant for Home Base Veteran and Family Care. Home Base is a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program dedicated to healing the invisible wounds for Veterans of all eras, Service Members, Military Families, and Families of the Fallen through world-class clinical care, wellness, education, and research.
At Home Base, Robin analyzed the existing program and recommended new ways to better serve more Veterans and Families in their Warrier Health and Fitness program in Boston and South West Florida.
Robin is an institutional health consultant, assessing past and current spending on musculoskeletal injuries - the highest cost in healthcare. In partnership with Solve Global, she identifies areas of risk in the workplace and provides measurable solutions for reducing spending and improving outcomes and culture.
She enjoys public speaking to engage audiences in the nuances of movement, mindset, and behavior as an alternative to pills and procedures.
Following her curiosities has led her to pursue local and national teaching opportunities. You can watch a sample of talks given at the Gray Institute here.
She has spent the last 25 years studying the art and science of the human body. Specifically, how we are affected by internal and external forces like gravity, mass and momentum, pain, joy, trauma, injury, receptive motions.
You name it, and we can be affected by it.
In recent years her studies and practice have led her to leave the clinical setting in favor of a more relaxed and creative environment. Five years ago, she left her beloved Studio Be in Maine to open Be Fit Co. in Williamstown, MA. If you like a good "stars aligning" story, ask her what led her to take that leap.
